Awakened Redemption
by Crimson Foxhound
Summary: The fall of a male warrior and his rise as an Awakened Being, this is the story of one's Redemption. The Awakened Being known as Gray. original characters only, Collaboration
1. First Encounter

Awakened Redemption:

Disclaimer: Claymore belongs to Nohiro Yagi, Gray, Meryl and Serenity belongs to me, Eira belongs to Requiem of Twilight, Rika belongs to Macen Krace, so all credit is due where it belongs, so please do not sue.

**Notes: First of all I'd like to thank JammerJoint for creating Claymore: Class 85 because of it's great storyline and then the members who took part in it to make it as successful as it is now. and I'd like to credit Noelle and Macen Krace for making this side story possible, if I did this on my own, it would not have turned out as good as it did**. **So thanks guys.**

**Secondly, this originated as a backstory for an Awakened Being I created in the OneManga Forums Roleplay named Claymore: Class 85, so if some things do not make sense, I do apologise though this could be a project of it's own. Please bear in mind this is set in the past of a story set in the far future of the Manga.**

Location: Unknown

Time: Unknown.

Cold winds blew carrying the sounds of thunder as a cloaked man walked through the forest around him. Not that it bothered him in the slightest, most of his face and clothing was hidden by a large Gray cloak that blew around him as he walked through the endless shower of rainfall, after several minutes of walking through the forest, he heard screaming, the screams of what sounded like a child following it.

He turned to his right, his eyes now showing. They were the same as those of claymores, Silver, clear as metal. _"I don't sense anything...then, could it be bandits?" _regardless of what he would face, he ran that direction and came to a stop as he closed in on his new destination. What he saw clearly defined the reasons for his hatred of bandits.

He say a group of four young men, no older than their mid-twenties, each armed with a short sword and a set of throwing knives, their clothing was bloodstained and their faces were filled with malice. In front of them were two young children, both girls, cowering as the bandits approached them slowly, in a sadistic manner, the could only predict that they were going to do the worst. To his left, he saw the body of who he assumed was the mother of these two girls, her death was no quick one, he could tell that easilly with the look of the corpse's state from when he stood. As a claymore, it was his job to kill yoma, not meddle into human affairs, but he could not stand by and allow these bandits to unleash what they had in store for the frightened girls. He simply stepped forward catching the attention of one of the bandits who leered at him and signalled his henchmen to take hold of both girls, both had long dark hair and pale blue eyes, they had the look of fear that only reminded Gray of when the Yoma killed everyone he knew on that day, the day his own life was saved by a claymore.

"that is futile" he simply stated coldly, the bandits didn't take him seriously"so, how are you going to stop us then? lay a hand on any of us and they're dead!" the leader said slightly annoyed. Gray didn't answer by words, but by action, with speed faster than a regular human, he grabbed the leader by the neck and threw him aside, into a tree, the force of the impact of the bandit hitting a tree head on disorientated him, he shook his head and charged with his shortsword drawn, the cloaked man dodged the swipes the bandit made with ease, angering the man even further, on the final swing, the cloaked man got hold of the bandit's sword arm, twisted it and pulling his arm behind his back, he took the bandits shortsword and knocked him out-cold. The bandits companions watched the entire fight with fear stricken faces "what...are you!?" one asked.

Gray did not answer and advanced on the remaining three, he pulled his hood down to reveal his face, he was a young man with Gray hair and silver eyes, the hair was quite messy at this point but short. "Do my eyes...answer your question?" he said in a tone of indifference, his voice deep yet soft.

"A silver-eyed killer!? But they're only female!" the first of the three remaining bandits gasped, fear clearly showing on his face. "That was true...but there are males now." Gray stated. "If you are a claymore, you can't kill us then!" the first bandit said arrogantly. "who said I was going to kill you?" Gray retorted and moved in swift motion, knocking out the bandit without a child in his grip with a elbow hit to the head, then he grabbed hold of the children and ran back, in the window of a few seconds. "How did he....!?" one of the two asked, "Iunno, he's a Claymore, let's just get outta here!" The two remaining conscious bandits ran, leaving two of their comrades lying unconscious.

The girls were still shaking with fright, holding onto each other, crying with fear, expecting pain and suffering from the bandits that had killed their mother, but instead they heard a calm, warm voice as they opened their eyes to find the man in front of them. "You are safe now" he held out a hand to help them onto their feet. "Can both of you walk?" he asked, the girls took his arm after hesitation and helped themselves to their feet, they nodded nervously, and still frightened.

Three days later, they arrived in the next town, where Gray had found a couple who were more than willing to take them in, now Gray's real challenge was to begin. He headed down the main streets of the town, until he saw a man in black lead him to a hut where his next mission was to take place. He opened the door to find three female Claymores waiting. He gave his number to them.

"Gray. Number fifteen present."

The air from the room was a little warm, showing that the ones inside were waiting for quite a while. As the door opened all gazes were directed towards the one who entered. Rika was resting her eyes while leaning against the wall. She was the last one to look at the newcomer.

After he properly introduced himself she gave him a smile, though not cold or rude. In fact it was quite pleasant and charming, not very common for a claymore. She continued and spoke in calm and friendly manner. Her eyes here unusually calm and warm despite their cold silver color.

"So you're here... and you're a male. Rare to see one nowadays. I'm Rika #8, the leader of the hunt. Before we leave I would ask you to get acquainted with your comrades and say how many you have hunted until now. I myself participated in 12 until now. Hope that hunt 13 is not an unlucky one."

The girl, half-shrouded in shadows, smirked when the male Claymore entered and was greeted by Rika. So he was Gray, and a man, at that. She was the first to stare at the newcomer, training bright, inquisitive silver eyes on him. They had not left him since; she was still scrutinizing him even after their leader had spoken. She decided she'd speak first; the child that she was would not let him have the smallest victory. She had a rather prejudiced dislike towards him that she could not quite explain.

"I am Eira, number seventeen. I've gone on four Awakened hunts before; still new to the game I suppose."

As she finished, Eira's eyes returned to their casual observing of Gray's every movement. There was no hostility though a little dislike was evident. She was just bored. Very, very bored.

Gray felt somewhat uneasy all of a sudden, he hid that well and stood against the wall. He was quite nervous about revealing how many Awakened hunts he has taken part in, frankly because the number he had taken part it was relatively low due to him being a rare male, and that they have had him doing special missions, they were still afraid of him awakening. "This is my second hunt, the organization has sent me on solo operations for most of my time since I got my symbol" he said in a tone of respect, he admired the single digits and had high respect for them, he knew he would get looked down on by his comrades for this, so again, like in his previous hunting mission, he would have to prove himself.

He stood against the wall. Tense and prepared for any scrutiny his comrades would throw at him, and Rika's first orders, he liked the fact that at least his commander showed kindness to him, it was rare that any claymore showed any form of acceptance of his existence, he disliked the resent other claymores he met had of him. Although he was almost always alone, but that didn't bother him, he liked the solo missions the organization usually sent him on, and on a few occasions, he got to train some of the trainees since some of the handlers, or trainers, were still impressed by his sword style, it was worth passing on to future generations.

"well well, so it's Gray, long time no see, kid." the third Claymore spoke and Gray was alerted by the voice. He recognised it well and looked to his left, sat there was Meryl. An old acquaintance from the days he was a trainee. "oh, sorry Rika, I haven't properly introduced myself yet, I'm Meryl, number twelve and I've successfully survived seven Awakened hunts, unlike this rookie here." her tone indicated a kind of proudness of herself. She was a fairly young claymore, her hair a bright silver, straight and thin as it went down to her back, with a small half-fringe on her left side of her forehead. Her body was slimmer than the average claymore, however she was taller, her most distinctive feature, was a scar on her left cheek, white and thin, a scar she chose not to heal. "I haven't forgotten that incident in the training session, you were weak and pathetic, yet you managed to give me this!" she said in an aggressive tone, pointing to her scar. Her hatred of Gray was fiery, and the only thing that kept that fire burning, was her ego to be better than Gray and put him in his place.

"Meryl, long time no see, but the past is the past, put that behind us" Gray said with a faint smile. "Put the past behind us just like that? I don't think so!" she responded angrily, and without warning, she punched Gray in the face, forcing him to stagger a little and lose balance for a second. Gray merely regained his stand and ignored it as if nothing happened. Then Meryl attempted another punch, only it failed, Gray dodged it and got hold of her arm, swung her around so she was pressed against the wall, with Gray retraining her with her arms behind her. He spoke calmly" with all due respect commander, I suggest we get moving, and Meryl, you and your Ego are going to get you killed one of these days." Meryl restrained herself for the time being and let him win this one, after she calmed down, he let her go. "Rika, why don't you order the rookie to stay here? we can take care of the Awakened ourselves, we don't need no men to help us, especially inexperienced idiots like him." Gray sighed; this was going to be difficult.

In the forest north of the town, their target awaited, feasting on a family of humans.


	2. The Strike

"Oh good. Since the two of you are already acquainted this may prove useful." Rika said to the two of them. After a brief moment she resumed. "However... I completely disapprove of your behaviour and lack of discipline." with the words after which she drew her sword with her left hand but from her right side. With one flick of the wrist in the middle of a swing she cut both Meryl's and Gray's hands. She sheathed her sword back after that and continued this with the same warm and gentle smile as before looking at the troublemakers.

"This goes for you as well Eira. If you want to live remember these words. Since I am leading this hunt, during the battle you will completely listen to me. You will do whatever I say, whenever I say. If I say loose an arm for the team or get hit you will do so immediately. And no buts, big boy. Get it?" These last two sentences were told while touching Gray's lips with her finger preventing him from speaking further. She then went outside and looked back at the two.

"And I see why you got sent into so many AB hunts until now Meryl. That's because you don't learn anything from your previous. Now put yourself together and your past aside. If you don't then I'll decide who leaves and who doesn't. And my decisions are permanent. Now let's go guys. The target is somewhere north near a forest."

They all walked down the main path until they got out of the city and then went north, though a forest. A few minutes later all four members were walking in a forest, Rika first, Meryl second, Gray third and Eira last. Rain started to fall while they were walking and it wasn't showing any signs of stopping. For a moment Rika stopped and told the others.

"The weather will be against us, so try not to slip in a muddy area or something similar. Also we are getting close and our chances of an encounter are getting higher so get ready to release the maximum amount you can control. We will give our target no chances. Got it?" Since there was no answer she smiled and went on with her hand on her sword. "Good!"

****

Gray's eyes filled with disbelief and surprise as he saw Rika withdraw her sword but he did not see what she did after that, however he felt quick pain on the back of his hands, this was where Rika had cut them, he took a short look at them and saw two clean cuts on the back of each hand, thin and shallow, the pain was mild so he ignored it, it was nothing compared to previous injuries in the field, in training or the suffering he has endured. He kept his silence as Rika put her finger on his lips, his expression was neutral, no emotion of any kind. _"She seems to have a high value of discipline, I respect that, as I myself do, but her methods...I don't know what to think, and her attitude, is it all an act?"_ he thought as she gave her talk to the group, the cuts on his hands already regenerating. After she gave her speech, Gray nodded. "Understood Commander, I'm sorry for my action against Meryl but I felt I had to restrain her, or things would have gotten worse if I took no action." He spoke formally; this was how he usually spoke in situations such as this. He followed Rika out of the door.

Unlike Gray, Meryl was angered at how the Single Digit acted in the situation, but fighting now would only make things worse so she did not fight back but she showed a slightly frustrated expression, Rika cutting her hands the same way as Grays were cut only annoyed her further, she stayed quiet during Rika's speech until it was finished. "Alright I've got no objections, but I WILL NOT let myself get hit to save him" she spoke in her usual tone and smirked after this and followed Gray, only to get ordered to put her past aside. That, she could not easily do. "Fine, but if he dies, don't blame me." She said with a snort.

As they entered the forest, the ground did start to unleash muddy areas on them, Gray avoided these and so did Meryl, following their leader. "got it" Gray acknowledged his leader's orders but he did the total opposite, he suppressed his Yoki, his "nonexistent yoki" technique he had been trained to do for so long. Now only those close to him could sense his yoki, but unless they had advanced yoki reading or were an "Eye," his yoki was rather faint, or small. Meryl prepared herself.

Rika's words infuriated Eira, and while she displayed no outward change in expression, she bristled ever so slightly at the heavy emphasis placed on 'completely'.

_I'm not a dog._ She would bloody well do as she pleased. But even as her dislike for Rika grew slightly, her respect for the single-digit Claymore also rose – and by a couple of notches, too. Perhaps she would indeed obey _some_ of her commands depending on the circumstances. Although losing an arm or getting a hit on orders seemed a little too impossible for headstrong Eira to just blindly obey.

As raindrops pelted the young Claymore, who had been keeping her senses well on the alert long before Rika turned to warn them, it served to bring some sort of reprieve to her frustration at being so subdued. Still, she could find nothing to say that wouldn't warrant her a whacking, or cutting, for that matter.

Sensing Gray's Yoki shrink, Eira looked at him and raised an eyebrow, though all she could see was his back. Agilely navigating her way through muddy areas with ease, Eira decided she'd pay more attention to the mud and her surroundings instead, rather than focus on a male Claymore whose aloofness – well, in her opinion anyway - was truly starting to get on her nerves.

Having sensing Gray lower his Yoki so that it was now faint, Meryl had a bad feeling, she could not pinpoint it but as much as she hated Gray, she knew that when he lowered his yoki, something was bound to happen, this was from experience, on her last mission with him, near the end of their training, she remembered that Gray lowered his yoki, the Yoma they had to kill appeared shortly after by some coincidence, allowing them to complete their mission. She sensed another Yoki, heading their way from the left, after a second it disappeared. "Did you sense that!?" Meryl asked her comrades, showing genuine surprise and taking a grip on her blade.

Gray looked in the direction the Yoki came from; he drew his sword, the rare customized claymore that was named the Scylon. The Yoki of the Awakened re-appeared, only this time in a completely different location. "What the!?" Gray was surprised, one second the Yoki was to his left, now it was coming from his right. He got ready to move, then the Yoki disappeared again, he calmed himself and remained alert.

Meryl on the other hand, was tense as the Yoki changed places so fast." What is this Awakened Being doing!?" vanishing and appearing somewhere else!?" she asked agitated. Gray replied more openly this time, showing some emotion "It may be a deception, I heard of a technique that uses Yoki to deceive the users' opponents."

"and what technique is this Rookie?" Meryl asked with genuine curiosity. Gray sighed and didn't answer. She scowled at this. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" and then she reached to grab Gray's arm and make him face her, but a source of Yoki was coming their way, slightly larger than the others from their left again, then a black spike, seemingly made by metal, about the size of an arrow followed, it hit Meryl and impaled her arm, she yelled curses as the entire spike seemed to have gone completely through it, blood pouring out like there was no tomorrow. Gray sprung into action, although he found Meryl annoying, she was his ally so he reacted with instinct. "Meryl!" he shouted as he pushed her over as four more came. Meryl growled at this, she was injured and Gray was going to save the group and get the kill again, but she stayed down as Gray rushed to the spikes, and using some Yoki, he managed to collide his claymore with two spikes, knocking them another direction, but the other two passed him, going directly to their targets.

Meryl got to her feet letting go of her claymore. She pulled the spike out in succession, but with lots of pain, moving her arm was going to be a problem until it would regenerate, luckily this was not her sword arm, and she could fight with her Claymore one-handed. She picked up her claymore, ready to attack.


	3. Enter: Serenity

"Wow, a male claymore? Now that is a nice surprise, should be fun, didn't know they were making males again, it would be great if he would kindly awaken too, I need a new friend. I'm impressed with how he deflected my spikes." a soft female voice spoke loudly, casually too. "I am Serenity. Why don't you just awaken and join me at your will, instead of the hard way?" The Awakened Being revealed herself. She was in her Awakened Form, seven feet tall and humanoid with the face of a reptile creature with human eyes and mouth with pointed ears, the shape of her head was like a lizard. Her face seemed to have scaled skin, it was a steel colour, but it had a tinge of red. She stood at least seven feet tall, her body feminine, her build was more or less similar to the average claymore, her arms were quite thin but long, at the end, near the wrists were two thin rods, on each arm. Her legs were thicker than her arms but still quite thin with bladed feet, all but her head was a smooth black and crimson metallic shell of armor. Her left hand was a claw, much like that of a Yoma, while her other, from the wrist down, had a clean, thin long blade made out of the shell which was three feet long, it was smooth. She had her left arm aiming at Eira while her right was aimed at Rika. The blade retracted so she could fire.

Gray looked at the Awakened Being before him with a nonchalant expression, buying some time to study his opponent before speaking. "nah, sorry, not interested in working for a ugly creature like you, 'sides what would I get out of it, all I'd be is a pawn to your will, and I like to live my life my own way, thanks but no thanks." Gray smirked at the Awakened Being's reaction. "Fine, I'll show you the hard way! You are now responsible for your comrades suffering!" She shouted angrily and fired three rods in rapid succession at Eira and Rika. Gray charged at her and their blades clashed. Meryl stayed back, regenerating her sword arm. "You idiot! You will get yourself killed!" she shouted at Gray.

----- -----

For a moment, the Claymore was as baffled as the others were about the mysterious Yoki which apparently had the gift of teleportation. However, as Meryl and Gray discussed it, she figured that their target may well have Yoma working for them – she had heard of such cases. But it also did not mean they would have to fight the tiny minions, however.

And so she was fairly taken aback when a larger Yoki came coursing their way, and while Gray used some Yoki to fend the spikes off, Eira opened the dam to her own source. Maintaining a firm hold over the rushing river, she bent the Yoki's path such that it coursed along her bones – and finally in them. Familiar pain racked her body, but in a few moments it faded to a dull ache that would barely impede her movements.

She heard the exchange between Gray and Serenity, and scowled. "Bastard, you'll get us all –" and she didn't have time to finish her sentence, for her eyes caught sight of three rods being fired at Rika and herself. Still wearing the frown, Eira swiftly considered the possibility of whacking the rods off course – then decided it was too risky since agility was her forte.

So she sprang aside, cartwheeling across the forest, withdrawing her claymore in the process, and aiming for the thin, long arm of Serenity that could fire rods, not bothering to wait for Rika's instructions. Goodness knew what would happen in the time their leader would take to yell out instructions at them, not to mention Serenity would be able to hear every single thing said.

As the others struggled and did what they thought it was best Rika already got to a 30% release of her youki just enough to easily avoid the rods aimed at her.

"You idiots! I told the best release you can handle. All you sweeties defend in a group. If one is attacked the others strike back. All regroup near Meryl. Buy her time to heal her arm!" Rika yelled back at the others. She already had a plan how to buy time but by the looks of the Awakened being she was gonna have a hard time applying it.

Her best shot was to hold the AB back while the others regrouped. Since her group was very strong, she wouldn't have a problem taking out the AB, but apparently the lack of discipline took its token. She started to release up to 70% of her youki and then dash at the AB from it's back until she got as close as 15 meters. At that point she would jump and roll in the air as her sword would attempt to hit the head. This would give Gray enough time to regroup as well.

Gray knew he'd get heat from his group for his actions, but he had to buy Meryl some time. He dodged a swipe Serenity threw at him following the clash with their blades, he did a high jump into the air and landed right in front of Meryl, he took an offensive stance. Meanwhile Serenity smiled, this male was certainly worth the effort it would take to awaken him, and she already found his weakness, although Gray's attitude seemed like he cared for only himself, she saw through it, he was doing it to keep her focus on him to save the others.

She sensed two rises in Yoki, the first appeared to be the one cartwheeling to her position take her left arm out, the second was the leader, raising her Yoki so close to her limit already? Serenity almost laughed at this, and dodged the incoming attack that was coming to her left arm did a fast set of backflips to evade the incoming attack to an extent and then she blocked it with her arm blade doing a sideward stance, then with a smile, she did a low sweeping kick at Eira's legs with her clawed feet, which did no large amount of damage as only one leg was hit and the claws were not sharp enough to wound her severely to immobilise her.

Then just as she was about to fire some rods into the young claymore at point-black range, she heard the orders of Rika and sensed her moving around her at a distance, "an attack from behind? smart move, but not smart enough!" she said in an arrogant voice and made an agile jump-flip onto a nearby tree, then she jumped on the next, then she fired five spiked rods towards Meryl and jumped down, coming at Gray to engage him again, she had evaded Rika's attack but Rika was still more of a threat, instead of going for Serenity, Gray jumped and, mastering all the yoki he could gather in a short time, he raised it to thirty percent, his face distorting and becoming more like a Yoma's face, he gave a growl and swung the Scylon at incredible speed, successfully knocking three off course but one had hit HIM and the other passed him, missing Meryl by sheer inches and hitting a tree. The one that hit Gray was impaled through his right shoulder, causing extensive amounts blood to pour out and causing him to drop on his right knee; he pulled it out and suppressed his Yoki fast. Completely disregarding the wound as less blood came out.

This shocked Meryl, who had now almost finished regenerating her arm. Why did he put his own life on the line, taking that hit without hesitation when it should have been hers? On top of that she had done nothing but abuse him in one way or another since he arrived in the mission, and gave him a hard time during training. "Dammit! You idiot! That hit should have been mine! Why did you-?" she asked Gray in a frustrated manner and resumed a fighting stance. Gray chuckled a little. "I don't think I could've let myself live knowing I could've saved your life if you died right here. Lets take her down!" he spoke with clear compassion in his voice as Serenity roared angrily and began shifting her claw arm into another blade arm. Once that was done she concentrated a lot of Yoki on her right side, heading for Rika. "Rika!" Gray shouted to warn her.

_****_

_Sweeties?"_

Then there was no more time to ponder over what Rika had said. In a flash of what seemed to be a few seconds, Serenity had dodged her attempted attack and drawn lines of blood across one of her legs. A slow test of movement revealed her leg hadn't been too badly damaged.

Since Eira was still somewhere left – and slightly behind – Serenity, together with the fact that the Awakened was aiming for Rika, she drew a deep breath, and released as much Yoki as she dared. She didn't slam the barrier down until she felt her arms go limp.

At that instant, with her face distorted heavily, she extended her sword arm towards the head of Serenity. The rest of her body wasn't slacking either – her legs tensed for a jump that would send her over the Awakened, should her attack fail. Either way she would still end up near Rika, and for once Eira felt it was better to maintain unity, for the opponent was clearly no pushover.

****

_"If I jump she will throw rods, if I dodge them Eira will be land here and we will be separated but I can't just leave this situation... Geez. what are these girls thinking of? And this one has deceiving abilities too... Guess I have no choice but to use that."_ thought Rika as Serenity approached step by step, sweeping the dust in front of her.

After analyzing all options she got a few steps back and jumped, attempting to make a cartwheel, right before the Serenity hit her. She was already with her head downward and her sword at the same level when her claymore clashed with Serenity's blade. The force of the impact was so great that it send Rika rotating in the air. While spinning in the direction of the impact Rika managed to increase her force so much that when she landed on her knees on ground near Serenity, due to the velocity and power of the attack created by that technique, her bade arm was lying on the ground. The cut was so clean that there could be seen no traces of force anywhere. As Rika attempted to take that arm from the ground and use it as a weapon her left hand flew into the air and blood spayed all over Serenity. Serenity's right blade arm managed to swipe her arm as it touched her former limb. This did not stop Rika from using her claymore to impale Serenity's former limb and kick it near Gray and Meryl. As this happened she rolled between Serenity's leg and got behind her, impaling her left leg right near the join where the skin was softer.

This did not stop Serenity from twisting her body and attempting to slice Rika in two. Since Rika sensed this movement she jumped backwards, catching her left arm and landing near Eira. No sooner had she landed there that her hand already caught Eira by her cloth and attempted to jump while cartwheeling back near Gray and Meryl. As soon as she landed blood sprayed out from her torso. It was a which intersected her left should area. She then forced herself not to loose composure and spoke quietly. Her left eyes was also destroyed by a shallow cut. A little bit more closer and she would have been dead.

**"Honey I don't remember telling you to attack her directly. I would have just made it here fine if you didn't do that by yourself. And you two sweeties here... what are you doing at such a low youki level? I told you we will give this AB no chance so do you best in releasing as much as you can. NOW!"** she yelled out the last words to make Gray understand the gravity of the situation.

**"Sweeties listen carefully!"** she whispered as she was reattaching her palm back. **"When she attacks again Gray goes for her left side, Meryl for the right side and Eira goes for her head. Try to sustain minimum damage while inflicting maximum damage. I will try to finish her from the back when I get the chance."** With this Rika ended her briefing and awaited the other to do what they were told.


	4. The Will to Survive

****: The will to survive ****

As much as she hated being ordered about, or even reprimanded for that matter, Eira's conscience refused to let her disobey Rika after witnessing what their leader had done. Swallowing her pride, she gave a curt nod, accepting both the light scolding and command. "Just for once!" she said aloud, and began a series of acrobatics that would have left any monkey gaping in shock, to make it harder for Serenity to aim.

All this while, she only had one target: the head, and if she could not come close enough to chop it off at normal arm's length, she would extend her arms. Eira wondered if interception from Gray and Meryl would be enough to distract Serenity from protecting her head. But the Claymore quickly shook off such thoughts, and concentrated on the task at hand. Her eyes glowed a determined gold.

Serenity detected a rapid rise in Yoki in the one to the back-left of her, she caught a look at her and saw the Claymore's sword aimed for her head, and she jumped, Serenity made a fast sideways dodge, and keeping Eira in mind, she began to make her move against Rika.

***___***

Serenity was angered at the recent moves Rika pulled, and even more aggravated that she underestimated Rika. Yet she was surprised she could pull that off and that she was still alive and willing to fight on with the wounds she sustained as she heard the determination in her voice, it rivalled Serenity's own determination to survive. She looked at Rika, then the other claymores behind her former arm. Serenity knew there was no point in getting the arm back, especially now that one of her legs had been impaled at one of the joints. Either way, she had to move, fast. She had to buy some time so she could regenerate a new arm.

The first move she made was this, she used her remaining arm to make a number of small spikes just above where her arm became a blade, there were at least ten of them, no larger than a nine millimetre bullet in comparison, she fired them in rapid speed, spreading them across the claymores, hoping to distract them long enough. Then she made some leaps into the trees, and once out of view, she used her Yoki to make it look like she was retreating, but in reality, she found a place where she could regenerate her arm, and while sparing a little Yoki to trick her adversaries into believing she was circling them, and about to attack from the front. She began regenerating her arm and leg wound, her leg wound was regenerated in seconds, but her arm would take at least some time, she laid low and concentrated on that, while trying to keep her enemies busy looking for her.

After her arm healed, with was no less than fifteen minutes, she used her deception to make them prepare for another strike from the front of them, but she attacked from behind

Gray simply watched his leader make her moves against Serenity with amazement and guilt, amazement at what she did, and guilt for both underestimating her and not helping her or following her orders as he should've. The fact that, with all the damage she had taken, she still had the will to keep going, Gray had only seen that in himself. he spun his claymore around and cut Serenity's former arm clean in half, from the end of the blade to the other end of the arm, then he raised his blade in preparation to attack. He listened to Rika's orders, and looked at her, her tone also gave him a new determination.

_'damn it! She can't find much longer, if I followed her orders in the first place she wouldn't have become as injured as this, no doubt the Awakened wil take advantage of this, since she wants me to awaken, i will raise my Yoki, but only enough to maintain a good enough balance of strength and speed'_ he thought, and he raised his Yoki, only by ten percent, with this he had more speed, and enough strength to cause significant damage to Serenity." I'm sorry commander, if I raise my Yoki any further than this, I will weaken in strength, but raise in speed, and after thirty, my Yoki will become harder to control and rise twice as fast as yours does, and at fifty, I will Awaken, this is why I have suppressed my Yoki up to now rather than used it, I dislike using my Yoki as it makes me unsafe to be around, please, forgive my insubordination." just as he finished saying this, he began to move to the left, and then he saw Serenity aim her remaining arm at Serenity. he did a single jump in front of her as Serenity fired the small spikes, with his extra speed, Gray deflected those headed for Rika. "Commander, you are in no position to deflect these so I had to, I can't let you die right in front of me, not now after seeing what you did and not helping you, and disregarding your orders, I'm partly to blame for those injuries, if not almost entirely." With that Serenity had seemingly began to retreat further north into the forest.

Then Gray moved some small distance forward and detected her Yoki circling them. "She's circling us." He held his sword ready and turned around as the Yoki source was circling them, he kept alert. Although he awaited orders. The next sight he saw froze him with shock and anger, his yoki rose.

Meryl simply watched with shock, and although she did not like Rika because of how she treated her, she found a new respect for the single digit and shouted "watch out!" she had the urge to jump into the fight as it progressed, but she knew she'd only screw up Rika's plan if she did, then as Rika gave her orders, she raised her Yoki to thirty percent. "I am, let's kick her ass!" she said with a grin, totally ignoring Gray's speech, she broke right, and as the flying spikes headed towards her, she did a backflip which took her behind a tree that provided sufficient cover.

Then she jumped out to see the Awakened Being retreat, she cursed and shouted "coward!" She kept her position, and soon detected the Awakened Being seemingly going around them, she kept her calm, and like Gray, she awaited for Rika to give orders, then out of nowhere, with two blades, one seemingly longer and thicker than the other slightly, impaled Meryl from behind, Serenity pulled her blades as the blood gushed out from two wounds just under her shoulders, She turned around and swung her Claymore at Serenity with all the remaining strength she had, but Serenity blocked the strike, and cut Meryl's sword had off, blood gushed out and covered part of Serenity. She laughed and as the claymore fell to her knees, impaled her again, lifted her above her, took her blades out, and then stabbed her left through Meryl's head. She dropped, lifeless.

"Now where were we, ahh yes, awakening the male, I'm sure I assisted there since I feel a good surge of Yoki going through you, yes." She smirked as she said this. Gray was speechless with shock. Frozen. He knew he could not get to her in time to save Meryl. Yet his anger was slowly getting stronger, his yoki rising some more, he resisted the urge to go and attack Serenity head on. "Damn it!"

As the group of claymores awaited Serenity to get out and show herself Rika managed to heal her left eyes and her shoulder, though the wound over her eye, the small cut over it still left some drops of blood falling into her eyes and temporary making her vision more red then usual. Her palm was also reattached back and during the entire time Serenity used her deceptions on them she analyzed them carefully and all this while still keeping her youki at 70%.

She only closed her eyes for the first time in 15 minutes and then took a deep breath before seeing Gray protecting her from a couple of rods and then Meryl killed right in front of her. Apparently she needed to order her team-mates more specifically in order to keep them alive.

"Sweetie, back off! Get over here! Now!" she yelled when she saw Gray getting further away from the group. She waited a little for Gray to come back. When he got close enough she continued slowly.

"All of you sweeties listen now to what I have to say, especially you big boy. We will now fight back to back in a triangle. We will guard each other's back and say from which direction the attack comes from when we see it! We will have to rely only on our sight. Got it dear? Also if a long ranged attack comes from your direction you say the direction you want to go so as all of us to dodge it. We will force her to go out in the open area where she can't use her tricks on us. Also be very careful cause I still have a bad feeling that she may be hiding something else as well."

She not started to whisper to her team-mates:  
"Now for the second part of my plan. Lure her here and then commission her. For 15 min she kept her awakened form and used a lot of youki to regenerate her arm and deceive us. This mean he can't keep this up much longer. Also I didn't spend 15 min with my youki at 70% for nothing. No claymore can keep this up this long especially in my condition, but I'm an exception. Though here's the trick, I can keep this up for a long, long time and I'm a defensive type. After I lower my youki steadily to initial state I want you Gray to raise your youki near the limit but enough to drop it to zero in a instant. This AB will believe that I'm nearing my limits and this topped by your high youki rate will lure her out. She will believe I am exhausted and that you are keeping the watch now. She will get out and when that happens you yell 'sweet'. This will be our cue to scatter near her. When this happens, you, big boy, dodge her attack and take out her right arm. After your swing drop your youki to near 0 to gain a boost of strength. That combined with the speed of the swing will be enough to chop her arm in one swing. While I attack her left side an keep her am busy, be so kind as to finish her off from the front honey. This is all. Avoid as much damage as possible." she concluded and lowered her youki to initial state. As her orders were given she knew this plan was nearly flawless. All they had to do now was to wait.

Eira found herself instinctively nodding even before her mind was able to properly process the plan Rika had formulated. As much as her free and wild conscience screamed at her, she obstinately stood her ground to obey. Rika's plan made much sense, and while she could imagine Serenity able to guess parts of it, she figured it was still worth a try.

Standing up, Eira turned away from Rika and faced a forest devoid of life, holding a state of intense alertness. She had not really understood what she would be doing, but instead silently decided she would make it up as they went along.

As he saw Meryl's lifeless body drop and Serenity slowly moving towards him, his conscience inside him roared at him to attack Serenity head on but he still had the sense to resist it and fall back as Rika ordered. He made two leaps back and landed just in position. Serenity's chance to take him out was gone, she scowled and jumped on the trees, actually circling them this time as Rika began explaining the plan, Gray kept his Yoki at the ten percent mark as he listened, with his emotions under control again. He understood the plan and saw no flaws in his own mind. He took position and raised his blade. And his Yoki. "got it, let's do this, I won't fail you, either of you." Gray spoke with a tone of powerful determination that could only be matched by his loyalty to the cause he fought for.

As she circled the group, she sensed a depletion in Rika's yoki, and a rise in Gray's. _"she must be weakening...and he is taking over, now is my chance"_ she thought making the decision to strike quickly, she caught sight of the claymores, they were back to back, she could feel Gray's Yoki rising, but to succeed in Awakening him, she would have to separate him from the others and weaken him first, she could not tell who the largest threat here was, as far as she could tell, the single digit was weakening, possibly from regenerating all her wouds. A ranged attack here would not yield any good results. She shapeshifted her blades slightly, curving their ends inwards resembling Kunai knives, she struck with a surprising short burst of exceeded speed and headed directly into Gray, who saw her in barely enough time shout, with disdain, "sweet!" to do a dive-roll to his right in an effort to dodge Serenity's horizontal slice attack.

In the midst of this, Serenity realised too late she had caught herself in a trap, she cursed and went straight for Eira, who's back was to Serenity, she twisted her curved blade of her right arm, and aimed it to impale right through her heart for a quick kill.

Gray recovered from his dive-roll and released his yoki to 40%. The most he could handle before he would lose control. His whole face disfigured, resembling a Yoma's face, his became thick and his body distorted, he roared and with speed worthy of a higher rank claymore, moved to strike, He moved close to Serenity, surprising her and with all of his willpower, he lowered his yoki, but only to the twenty percent mark, he could not suppress it any further. Too much anger resided in him; nevertheless, he hacked off the right arm of Serenity as ordered.

Serenity screamed in anger and pain, blood from her shoulder completely covered Gray, she jumped back. "Damn you!" She raised her remaining arm in defence. Gray held position, now his locked away anger was satisfied enough; he lowered his Yoki to normal levels and waited for either his comrades to move. "NOW!"

Despite her alertness, Eira still found herself reacting too slowly to the appearance of Serenity behind her. Even as she evaded the fatal hit, the blade touched her skin and dragged a long, deep gash from the elbow of her right arm to the wrist, just as Gray successfully hacked it off. Staggering slightly, Eira watched fat globules of blood drop to the ground slowly from the gaping wound. Though she had already begun regeneration the instant she was cut, it would certainly take some time to heal.

Nevertheless, she seized the chance. Gripping her claymore tightly, she sprang towards the head of Serenity, the thought of Meryl popping into her mind, and at the same time yelling at Gray, "don't just stand there; _**help**_!"

She raised her Yoki to 65%, swinging the sword with both hands until it was level with Serenity's neck. Then she extended her uninjured arm, using the momentum of the swing as her strength, as fast as she could possibly manage towards the Awakened Being's head.

With the cue sign given Rika jumped immediately left and ran forward, entrapping Serenity in a triangle, thanks to the position of her allies. Her youki was immediately raised to 30%, 50% when Gray was in full swing and then after Serenity's arm touched the ground it was back to 70%. It was no need for Gray to say what was next cause she already saw her opportunity to strike.

With 70% of her power unleashed her speed and power were near her hear peak and controllable limits... One step was all she needed to get airborne and another one to boost her towards Serenity. Her other steps helped her get more power for her next strike.

In a few seconds a steel curved blade and claymore clashed. Their mere contact caused small sparks and flashes. As Rika's tip of her claymore touched Serenity's curved blade she pushed it further with all her might, causing small sparks. It stopped when Serenity's blade got in touch with the handle. At that point Rika pushed the blade down towards the ground and watching her feet as well as Serenity's she forced her claymore behind Serenity, point at which her blade was pushed towards Serenity and upwards as well, causing it to get stuck between Serenity's armoured back and her arm. If Serenity wanted to move, her arm would have to be sacrificed or perhaps she'd have to risk a fatal injury to her body.

"You're all real sweeties guys. This worked just as planned. Go ahead Eira!" Said Rika with hand on the claymore.


	5. The Sacrifice of a Comrade

**The Sacrifice of a comrade.**

**Authors Notes: Thanks for the reviews guys, I really appreciate it, from hereon reviews will be weekly as I have to revise my next few chapters to extend this a bit. Hope you guys enjoy.**

Gray moved into position to back Eira if her strike should fail, although he hid it, his Yoki was somewhat feeling much more difficult to control than before he used it, it raised to ten percent. "No...I can't be..." he spoke in a low voice, tone hinting fear but still concentrated on his objective. He felt uneasy, he tried to keep it under control, but it raised to twenty percent. "Dammit!" he managed to keep it at the twenty percent mark, his eyes gold as he waited for Rika's order.

Serenity growled, she was angry, vulnerable and "cornered." Fear gripped her, overcome by it, she was desperate to survive, her Yoki flowed within her like wildfire. She needed a way out of this, "damn you!" were the words that came out of her mouth in a hiss as she realised the inevitable would happen if she did not move, fast. Now she had to make a move or die.

She gave a sly grin and made a move, Serenity moved so that Rika's blade cut a lethal slash across her back, grimacing as the blood spilled from the wound, bending forward, one knee on the ground in blood stained grass, she got back onto her feet and turned to Rika and in a lightening fast move, Serenity simply knocked Rika from her feet using a strike from her elbow and aimed her arm at Gray and fired two rods at him.

"Rika!" Gray's yoki rose quickly, hitting the thirty percent mark, his face distorted and his golden eyes glowed. He made a quick move to the right in an effort to dodge the rods, one narrowly missed him and the second hit his right shoulder, impaling him. He dropped his sword and struggling to stand, he pulled the rod out from it, he gave a deep roar of pain as he pulled it out and threw it on the ground nearby. He fell to his knees as he felt his Yoki spiral out of control, his muscles bulged, entire body almost like a Yoma, he was approaching his limit. "No! not now! I can't awaken now! damn it!" he was on his knees, trying to suppress his Yoki with all the willpower he had. Enflamed in anger, he slammed his fist into the ground. "I....I failed you.....I'm sorry, kill me NOW!" He shouted to his comrades. Emotion had dominated the man, his face showed a fiery rage.

Serenity gave a devious smile. "I guess I...."she breathed deeply and coughed "...succeeded after all!" speaking in a taunting tone, she moved in strained motion towards Eira, grinning as she got closer shifting her arm blade into a hand once again. Now right in front of Eira she made a move that looked like she was going to punch her in the stomach, but she did not, she fired a lethal shot with one of her rods at point blank range at Eira.

A fleeting moment passed. "Gray…!"

She wanted to turn around and instead direct her sword towards him. She looked back at Serenity. The Awakened was smiling. She saw that shadow cut a line of black through the air. After everything. _In the end…_

She had known; she'd always known. Maybe it had been the sudden shift in her personality in this hunt, her sudden obedience. Perhaps some part of her had already foreseen. And if fate did exist… she could only close her eyes and pray it helped Gray. Helped Rika.

The first touch was a horrible, searing heat on her forehead. Melting every obstruction, driven by a killing intent so murderous. A finger that reached into the depths of her soul, gripping it tightly in an icy, deathly hold. Heat, followed by the excruciating pain of a blunt object being driven through the skull, a hot fire beginning to consume her mind. But, even as she began to cry for death, she clung tight to a fast-diminishing life. There was still something, something –

"Die," she breathed softly, warm, thick liquid trickling out as she spoke. _This is for you, Rika, and, though I hate to say it – you, Gray. Don't worry though, I definitely still hate you. _With a pained scream that seemed to come from the depths of fiery hell, Eira lifted the dam from her Yoki, two arms gripping the claymore tightly – arms that extended at extreme speeds. The sharp end of the sword hit Serenity's throat, stopping for a fraction of a second, before grating through flesh and bone, emerging on the other end, silver matted and stained in blood.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment. Eira's hands relaxed and released the claymore, now embedded deep into Serenity's neck. The Awakened hesitated in the position she was in, before dropping like a stone backwards, such that the sword's hilt stood tall, the tarnished blade firmly set in the ground.

_So transient our lives…_

The flaming pain in her head was amplified by her voluntary actions. She felt the warmth of the liquid, now streaming down her face, finding many paths through which to flow, but her heart felt cold and empty. Yet, resting amidst the iciness was an unmistakable sense of closure, satisfaction, even relief. At the last moment she still thought of her comrades – she had yet to tell him – turning behind, she looked at Gray, struggling with his own Yoki, and mustered all her strength to speak.

"I hate you, Gray."

But the sparkling smile in her dying eyes definitely told him otherwise.

A pearly hand stretched out to her as she gazed at what she could see of the sky. One loving hand that reached out for her, waiting. She raised her own uninjured hand, clasping the awaiting one. After all, she knew that hand. She would recognize it anywhere by touch or sight alone.

_Mother. Let's go on now… together._

The Claymore dropped lifelessly onto the ground, a rod through her head, embraced by a pool of crimson blood that was still warm to the touch, as the last of the light of life faded smoothly from her eyes.


	6. Awakening of the Beast Within

**Author's Notes: Thank you guys for the reviews here, (especially Shelter, really good help, thanks) and I sincerly apologise for the lateness of this chapter due to a lot of things, but this has quality at the maximum I can give in this chapter to make up for it. An Epilogue is to follow this and chapters 3 and 4 will be revised and re-done. So in the words of Luquid Snake "It's not over yet!" (Metal Gear Solid reference)**

**Awakening of the Beast within**

Gray's control of his Yoki was diminishing, his entire body shivered and shook as he forced his Yoki to stop rising, this was the moment he had feared since his training. He breathed heavily, his Yoki at the final limit. He was looking at the ground, still on his knees, he gripped the wet soil below him as he struggled to keep his humanity, The strength of his will was tested. All he could feel was an intense pain throughout his body, enough to make any lesser man yell in pain.

Flaring golden eyes looked up on instinct to see Rika had been knocked from her feet and Eira was moving to Serenity. With an expression of fear, he watched as Serenity and Eira clash. Shaking and struggling to hold back, he watched as Serenity made the first strike, a point-blank range shot of one of the spiked rods to the forehead. "damn it!" he shouted in a roar filled with rage from the very fires of hell itself. Gray blinked to see his dying comrade's claymore cut through Serenity's head from the throat, but Eira's death was inevitable, he could do nothing to save her.

Serenity's death was quick, she gave one last sly grin as she died, although death had found her, she died knowing it was only a matter of time before Gray would awaken. All life drained out of her as her lifeless body fell to the floor. Gray could only watch as Eira stood for mere seconds and looked at him. He could only look in her eyes as she told him she hated him. He could not blame her, he had as good as killed her, although he could read past her eyes that said different.

"This hunt,,,it didn't have to happen this way! I....cannot be forgiven....everyone close to me has died right front of in my eyes, and I was the cause of their deaths. the only friends I had as a child, my parents, my comrades…Meryl...and now Eira!" he struggled to say, his voice deep, that of a monster. Rage was now almost in control. " I am a monster! always was, my existence is as they said, I am just another tool that's ended its time of use and needs to be disposed of. " He looked in Rika's direction, she was still alive.

"I guess the organization was right about me. I must die." his sanity was thin, even he knew that and he hoped Rika could hear him. "RIKA!"

A heavy blow to the stomach from Serenity, prior to her death, had thrown Rika away from the battlefield and straight into a tree, temporarily stunning her. Nevertheless she got to her feet, It took her some time to recover, but she did not give up. Gray was in a critical state, she couldn't let him die or lose himself now. Although he was near awakening, Rika didn't abandon h him and raised her own yoki to fifty percent to get near him quickly, and knock him unconscious, believing that doing so would stop his awakening, before his yoki would explode and he would awaken. She headed to him with speed worthy of her rank and attempted a spin kick that would put him out She was too late.

Unfortunately her kick landed the moment before Gray awakened. It wasn't enough for her to knock him out or barely injure him. The surge of power blasted Rika away and from the dust that came a new shape could be distinguished.

His entire skin had become a hardened metallic black caraprace with a slight tinge of crimson. His form was still somewhat humanoid but skeletal by appearance, insect-like with a resemblance to a Xenomorph, an Alien. He now stood at seven and a half feet tall with thin arms that sported extremely sharp spikes pointed outwards, these seemed strong enough to penetrate another easily. The arms were significantly longer than that of a human's and ended in deadly claws that appeared to be slightly larger than a Yoma's. The blades at the ends of these claws were sharp enough to penetrate an armoured human with ease with the right strength behind them. His clawed feet were straight and skeletal. However they had shorter claws too. His head was now an elonginated shape that was heavily armoured with a face that spoke of only a beast. A Monster. The beast that once was Gray also sported a long, segmented tail with a curved blade from the second half of the tail to it's end. Which appeared to be metallic and was extremely sharp. A thin yet wide mouth and clear thin white eyes opened at the front of its face. The creature let out a deafening screech that even shook the Single Digit before it. Yet she did not show any signs of faltering.

Gray was obliviously out of control but Rika could only attempt to persuade him at least. Deep down emotions raced. She stayed calm. Not realising Gray was no more.

"You must be pretty angry now, big boy, for that… well kick. Calm down. I don't want to kill you, in your current state you are not even a challenge for me at fifty percent," Though Rika tried to talk to Gray he didn't show any sign of understanding a thing she said. She would learn soon enough how much she had underestimated Gray.

She then tried to continue but Gray was already out of control. She thought she could handle Gray at fifty percent but when she tried to dodge his attack the difference in speed was clear. Gray had the edge here and managed to tear her left arm completely to the bone in one swipe. Realizing this she though of something as complex as she did before and twice as risky. She headed for Gray as he charged at her. It was a battle of sentience against primal instinct.

"Though it seems I underestimated your speed, you are no match for someone with a clear mind." She said as her yoki rose instantly to seventy percent, still remaining under her control. While running and estimating Gray's steps, she launched herself towards Gray's head by landing her feet near the other and crouching before her actual jump. It looked like a pretty stupid move but in reality she did a backwards cartwheel which lead her with both her legs above Gray's head. While her first kick missed his head her second didn't and in that exact moment, she switched the direction of the first kick and kicked Gray in the face. The impact stopped Gray from his charge but it didn't stop Rika. Both her feet landed on Gray's shoulders and she bounced off of Gray, while pushing him backwards.

After bouncing back and moving with graceful agility Rika got near a claymore. Since only her right hand was fit to carry it she reached for it and grabbed it tightly. It was that very moment she felt something strange, a cold chill coming down her spine and then something cold over her hand, and… pain. Her hand was no longer. Gray had cut it into pieces. The feeling she had been stuck with was either death or something else. It was unknown to Rika as everything became rather slow, gloomy and inexplicably darker. Immense pain had taken over her as she froze coming from her stomach, she could not say why. As she tried to comprehend what was wrong she felt something dripping on her leg. When she looked down she saw blood, a lot of blood and a strange thing covered in that blood which moved. Gray's tail.

Her sweet smile didn't leave that beautiful face of hers, not even on the brink of death, not even while blood came out of her mouth. Despite her deplorable state she still kept that angelic aura and that certain sweetness of hers. She saw Gray's monstrous face in her last moments on this realm.

"You pathetic little kid. Tell me, what did you achieve with killing a person who didn't want to fight you in the first place? Should I have been serious you would be no match for me at 50% in the first place. And why don't you check the symbol on this claymore. It's not mine." She replied while barely breathing.

As Gray looked over the sword he saw his own symbol.

"I intended to show you what you fight for."

The beast that was the former claymore suddenly froze, not even moving for almost a minute, the insane raging beast that dominated Gray was no longer, and only to be replaced with the very humanity he had feared losing. Gray realised what he had done, he saw his own metallic black tail impaled right through Rika, and he felt it. Guilt, sorrow and shame overcame him; he fell to his knees and couldn't bring himself to look at Rika in the eye. The first person he had met since becoming a warrior who did not look at him with hatred, ignorance or neglect, was dying right in front of his eyes, by his own hands. He was physically shaking, completely cold from shock, sorrow and fear. The metallic black beast fell to his knees, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. "What have I done?" he asked quietly, not taking his eyes from Rika. "Forgive me, please."

As Gray begged forgiveness he returned to his human form collapsing to his knees, his tail retracting from impaling Rika. She could still control her yoki that went beyond the limit in her state. It rose to eighty percent and then dropped instantly. Rika's lips gently touched Gray's forehead as she dropped to the ground, but it was unknown if she did this consciously or if it was a simple coincidence. Gray caught her as she fell and gently laid her body on the ground. Shock, guilt, disbelief, loss and sorrow overcame him as he comprehended what he had done. He hated himself for what he had become and could not forgive himself for his actions. Tears fell from his eyes.

"I don't even deserve your forgiveness."


	7. Epilogue

Authors Note: I sincerly Apologise that it has took me so long to post this ending and its shortness, I have had lots of illnesses since the last update, again thank you for the reviews and Charnobyl, sorry for not replying butI will adress the issues at hand in a pm as soon as possible

**Awakened Redemption: Epilogue**

"I don't deserve your forgiveness."

The former claymore known by the name of Gray had kneeled before the very comrade he killed not being able to distinguish the water coming from his eyes from the rain but that didn't matter to him. He had been overcome by the guilt in what he had done as an emptyness grew within him, he was a broken man. He could not understand these feelings that came at him, half of him was filled by hatred while the other was filled by sorrow, yet there was an emptiness in his heart.

As the black sky of the night roared with thunder, he raised his head from looking at the ground and slowly stood up, taking a look at each of his fallen comrades, the flames of hatred burned violently as he looked at the corpse of his fallen enemy, Serenity. Yet as he looked at each of his comrades in turn, that feeling of rage and hatred slowly dissipated, he only longed for forgiveness that he knew he'd never be able to receive from any of them. As these emotions raged inside him, he felt another presence inside him, was this the beast that killed Rika? It was a strange hunger. "I...I...Can't!" he said to himself in a voice that clearly showed fear, he was afraid, frightened beyond any fear he had ever known, his entire body shivered, the rain was as cold as ice. This new hunger demanded his attention once more, telling him he must feast on human guts. He felt weak, vulnerable, gritting his teeth and growling, he spoke to no one in particular. " I...am...not...a...MONSTER!" the last word was spoken with disgust, resentment and hatred. In his mind he saw the faces of numerous cloaked men. "You are the monster that will succeed where others failed, remember that." A cold voice spoke in his mind.

"NO!" Gray roared in a voice which could even make other Awakened tremble upon hearing it, his yoki was running through him out of control, strong gusts of wind surrounded him, the rain hitting him violently. His body shifted into the Awakened Form that was his. "I remember....what I fight for....for those that are innocent and defenceless, they deserve a chance to live, that will not change" he spoke in a voice with a stronger resolve, Gray had his redemption, he had a promise to his fallen comrades, he will not become the same monster it took their lives to kill. He grabbed hold of his Claymore, Shifted into his Awakened Form and with lightening fast speed, he ran into the distance as the thunder clashed yet again.

"I will not fail."

From then on the Awakened Being known as Gray, haunted by his past and the monster held within him, went on to survive and fight for what he believed in, a prisoner to his fate as an Awakened Being. For decades he fought a lone battle, to keep his humanity and conscience against the hunger of an Awakened Being. Humans were more than just sentient food, there were those that needed to be protected, preserved so they had the chance to be free, while there were others, humans whose evil know no bounds and commit unforgivable crimes. They, and only they, were the ones who deserved the fate of death at the hands of such a being as himself. Gray was a lone, lost soul sought forgiveness. Little did he know that he would find himself in a series of events on a much larger scale. Nor did he know that he would find new allies in the distant future.

The real fight for Gray had not even begun.


End file.
